Sweep: The last Story
by Mimeaba
Summary: Hunter doesn't disappear after book 14. Iona is still out for blood... Hunter would do anything to protect the love of his life... and so would Morgan.. LOTS OF GUSHY ROMANCE I can't help it, I love that kind of stuff
1. Chapter 1

Hey, I just finished rereading the Sweep series and I thought about how much I didn't really like the ending (the Night's Child book). Anyway, I started off with a passage from the beginning and I want to see what would happen if Hunter didn't disappear. (Everything between this 'xx' is Cate Tiernan's)

Please Review (be harsh if you want, I've never really written a story outside of school work before).

Disclaimer: I don't own the Sweep series

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xx Morgan started crying silently. Oh, Goddess, she loved him so much.

"I knew when I met you that you were the one for me," Hunter said, his voice reaching only her ears. "I knew it when I disliked you, when I didn't trust you, when I feared your power and your inability to control it. I knew it when you were in love with my bastard half brother, Cal. I've always known it: you are the one for me."

"I don't understand. What are you saying?" It was frightening, how much she still wanted to hope they could be together. It was such a painful hope. She felt his hands holding hers like a vise-as strong as the hold he had on her heart.

"You came here to break up with me forever," Hunter answered. "I won't stop you, if that's what you want. I want you to be happy. But if there's any way you think you can be happy _with_ me, as opposed to without me, then I'm asking you to try."

"But how? We've been over this." Morgan said, completely confused.

"No, not _this_," said Hunter. "_This_ definitely needs to change. But I can change. I can change whatever I need to is it means that you'll be with me."

Morgan could do nothing but stare. "With you in what way?"

Hunter turned her hand over and traced the carvings of her claddagh ring. "In every way. As my partner, the mother of my children. Every way there is. I need you. You're my life, wherever you are, whatever you're doing."

Morgan quit breathing.

"Look, the one constant in our lives is our love," he said. It seems like we're squandering our most precious gift-having a soul mate. If we let that slip away, nothing else will make sense." Morgan gaped at him, a splinter of sunlight seeming to enter her heart. _Oh, Goddess, please. Please._

He went on. "I can phase out the field work I'm doing for the New Charter. There's any number of things I can do based out of Cobh. We could live together, make a life together, wake up with each other more often than _not_ with each other. I want to see you grow old, I want us to grow old together. I want to have a family with you. There can be cats involved, if you like."

Could this possibly come true? Could this really be happening? After her despair of the last two weeks the sudden, overwhelming joy Morgan felt seemed almost scary.

"I still have Dagda," was all Morgan could think of to say. Her once-tiny gray kitten was now a hulking sixteen-pounder who had developed a distinct fondness for Irish mice. "But-can you do this? Do you really mean it?"

Hunter grinned. It was the most beautiful thing that Morgan had ever seen. He moved his chair till they were close, side by side. His arm went around her waist, and she leaned against his warmth, his comfort, his promise. The faded half life she had resigned herself to had just burst into brilliant colors. It was almost too much. It was everything.

"Do you want to be with me, Morgan?" he said softly. "You're my heart's love, my heart's ease. Will you join me in handfasting-will you be my wife?"

"Oh, _yes_. Yes," Morgan whispered, then rested her head against his shoulder.

Dawn. Dawn is the most magickal time of day, followed of course by sunset, Morgan thought dreamily. She stretched her feet toward Hunter's warmth and let sheer happiness, hopefulness, and contentment wash over her like a wave of comfort. From her bed Morgan could see a small rectangle of sky, pale gray, streaked with pink. It was the dawn of a whole new life, Morgan exulted. The life where she and Hunter would always be together. They would have a handfasting, she thought with a shiver of mixed awe and delight. They might have children. Goddess, Goddess, had anyone ever been so happy? Her eyes drifted closed, a smile still on her face.

"Sweet," Hunter whispered, kissing her ear. Morgan reluctantly opened her eyes, then frowned as she realized Hunter was out of bed and already dressed.

"What are you doing?" she demanded sleepily. "Come back here." Hunter laughed and kissed a line of warmth beneath her ear.

"My last New Charter meeting, over in Wexford," he explained. "I'm taking the eight-oh-five ferry. I'll do my meeting, tell them to get a replacement, and be back by dinnertime at the latest. We can get some of that fried stuff you love, all right?"

"All right," Morgan said, stretching luxuriously.

She saw a familiar roguish gleam in his eyes as he watched her stretch, then curl up again under the covers. He looked at his watch, and she laughed. "You don't have time," she told him. xx

Hunter paused, and looked towards the door in anguish. "Oh what the hell… I'll take the next ferry," and with that he threw off his jacket and jumped back into bed with her.

She laughed as he began to kiss her exposed midriff. "You know, for the first time in a long time, everything just feels right," she said dreamily.

Hunter looked up into her deep hazel eyes as he caressed her skin, sometimes he felt like he could drown in those eyes of hers. "I think I know exactly what you're talking about," he said, and then he tipped his face up to hers and kissed her deeply as she wrapped her leg around him.

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Ok, so it's not too much yet, but hopefully I can make it evolve a little more. Iona will still be after Hunter and Morgan and all that jazz… anyway I guess I'll just see what happens.


	2. Chapter 2

Morgan sighed as she sipped her tea. She was sitting by the window, watching the clouds dance around the sky.

Earlier that day, a strange storm sank the ferry that Hunter would have been on if he hadn't skipped it and made love with her instead.

_Thank goodness I'm so dang irresistible _she thought wryly. After she had heard what had happened, she and Hunter had rushed down to the docks, catching the last glimpse of the storm. She had tried to heal as many of the injured people as possible. Her throat tightened as she remembered all of the bodies lying on the beach. It was strange, it happened so fast. Morgan had never seen the weather behave so strangely before; it was almost supernatural.

_Don't be ridiculous Morgan,_ she told herself, _Why would anyone want to purposely destroy a ferry with so many innocent lives on it?...But Hunter would have been on that ferry, he could have died. _She squeezed her eyes and tried to push away that thought. _Remember, there are no coincidences. _

Now that Hunter had left (by plane) to his New Charter meeting, Morgan couldn't help but feel an over-baring sense of worry for him. She wished he would never leave her sight, if anything happened to him… Goddess… what would she do?

There was another strange new feeling than she couldn't quite put her finger on. She felt different somehow, but it wasn't a bad feeling or anything. It was just strange, she felt the presence of another person even though she new she was alone.

Suddenly, Morgan jumped as she heard a loud crash from outside. Immediately, she cast her senses, probing the air around her. Someone was coming up the walk…

"Killian?" Morgan whispered to herself as she rushed to open the door.

"Little sister!" Killian said in his Irish accent as he walked towards her with open arms. "I'm so glad I finally found you, I felt like I was going in circles in this tiny town. How in the hell do you live in a place without a single club? I'd lose my mind if I were you…prolly start hitting on all the old ladies at the market place." He gave her a smirk and kissed her on the cheek. "So… Got anything to eat?"

An hour later they were sitting at the table with full stomachs and tired tongues. They had done a lot of catching up, and were now sitting quietly and contently as the sky around them darkened.

"So Killian," Morgan said as she smiled wanly at him, "tell me what's on your mind… I know you didn't just come here for the free food and conversation."

Killian looked up surprised, with a mock hurt look on his face. "Little sister, how awful of you to think that I actually need a reason to come and see you. You know I just enjoy your marvelous company." He grinned.

Morgan smiled back warmly. "Killian… you feel…antsy. Like you want to say something but you're not. Just tell me already, you know you can't hide anything from me."

"Ah yes," Killian chuckled, "How stupid of me to think that I could hide something from _The_ Morgan Rowlands, daughter of Maeve Riordan of Belwicket… The girl who made a saltshaker levitate when she was an uninitiated witch still in high school."

Morgan laughed. "I'm glad you finally see it my way…well, I'm listening…"

Killian sighed and began to play with the ends of the table cloth. Morgan was suddenly worried. Very few things could disturb Killian, he was such an easy-going, laid back guy.

"I know who caused the storm," he said, looking into Morgan's startled eyes. "And I also know that it was directed to harming your seeker boyfriend."

Morgan's attention was on full alert. "Wha-? What are you talking about? Are you sure? Who's behind this? Who would want to hurt Hunter? Why—"

Killian raised his hand and Morgan silenced. "I didn't really think she would do anything," Killian said, "If anything had happened, I don't think I ever could have forgiven myself for not coming to you after what I had heard. She was just angry… I thought she was just speaking out of fury…. Never in a million years would I have thought… She doesn't even have enough power to cause harm… I thought she was a fairly weak witch…I thought..."

"Who? Killian WHO DID THIS!" Morgan was right next to him now, her eyes searching for an answer in his face.

"Iona," Killian almost whispered.

"Iona!" Morgan cried, "your sister? My half sister? Are you certain?"

Killian nodded slowly. "I overheard her speaking furiously to my mother about you and Ciaran when we went to visit him at that witch recovery center place. She swore revenge on you through Hunter…She said she wanted to see you suffer…"

Morgan sat back shocked. Hunter could be in danger at this very moment… She had to talk to him, to know that he was still okay.

"That Bitch!" Morgan cried furiously. She felt strong waves of anger welling up inside of her. "She just destroyed over a hundred innocent lives! She could have…" Morgan's throat tightened "….she could have killed Hunter."

Morgan rushed to the phone and picked up the receiver. There was no dial tone.

"Damn it!" She yelled as she slammed down the receiver. "The storm she sent here must have knocked out all of the bloody power lines!" After being around Hunter for so long, she had picked up some of his English vocabulary.

"Don't worry about anything right now," Killian stated morosely. "I know exactly where she is. At the moment Hunter is quite safe."

Morgan sat back down, her heart pounding in her ears. She just needed to hold him right now, to feel his warmth around her.

"What do you mean?" Morgan glanced at Killian.

"Well…At the moment she's on a plane back to New York," he looked up at Morgan's questionable stare. "I know this because I ran into her on my way over here. She thinks I'm on her side, you see. She wants me to help her. She's trying to gather the last remaining members of Amyranth—and I'm sure she won't be too successful. Without Ciaran's power protecting the coven, the members fled. They have too many enemies you know. She wants you gone Morgan… But first she wants to make you suffer. She'll try and get any source of power she can lay her hands on. What worries me is how she gathered enough power to create that storm in the first place."

Morgan could only gape at him. Morgan had to take action… She had to stop Iona before any more damage could be done.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you everyone who reviewed! (zah, LBP, Eliza) I really appreciate input or ideas. Any way here's the next chapter, feel free to tell me if it's too hokey or dramatic or anything like that. Thanks again, -Mimi

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After Killian had gone, Morgan couldn't shake the feeling that she was not alone. It was like there was this other presence that she sensed, yet she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She anxiously waited for Hunter to return, and although Killian had said that he was safe for the time being, she felt terribly concerned for him. She contemplated sending him a witch message, but didn't want to worry him. _Besides, he should be home any minute now_, she told herself.

She fiddled around with her hands and stared out the window. Outside, two young boys were jumping in puddles and laughing. How she wished she could be like them, without a care in the world. Morgan had tried to get some of her work done for the next week, but she simply couldn't concentrate. Reading about healing work seemed like the last thing she could be worried about now.

After what seemed like ages, Morgan finally felt Hunter's presence and immediately jumped up to greet him. She tried to calm herself down a little more even though she knew that it would be useless to hide any emotions from Hunter—he knew her far too well.

"Hello love," Hunter said with a smile on his face as he walked through the door. He was wearing his most professional looking clothes; black trousers, shiny dress shoes, a grey almost formfitting angora sweater with the collars of his shirt poking out, and a long overcoat. To most strangers, Hunter would look very intimidating, but to Morgan he looked incredibly sexy. She had told him on more than one occasion that when he was in his professional clothing, she had to control herself from not ripping it all off and having her way with him.

Morgan drank him in, and for a moment all of her troubles melted away. She rushed to him and kissed him with such fierceness that Hunter was momentarily caught off guard, but as always Hunter met fire with fire and returned the passion. Morgan put her arms around him and pressed her slender body against him as he slipped his hands under her shirt feeling the warmth and softness of her back. When they finally broke away, they were both breathing hard and staring into each others eyes.

"Well, that was a very pleasant greeting," Hunter said with a smile as he raised his eyebrows. "I'm definitely going to start wearing my professional attire more often."

Morgan laughed and started to walk towards the kitchen to make them both tea when Hunter suddenly grabbed her arm. Morgan turned and looked into his face.

"Wait a tick Morgan, you seem…different somehow." Hunter searched her eyes, then tenderly put a hand over her stomach. He stood there for a while with his eyes closed—he was concentrating very hard. Morgan was bit bewildered, she wondered what this was all about. Finally Hunter let go and looked up at Morgan.

"What's wrong Hunter?" Morgan asked.

"Morgan… you're pregnant," he said in awe.

Morgan stood there dumbfounded. Her mind was reeling. _Wha-? How the? When did? How is this possible?Is that that feeling I feel? It can't be true...we always use all of the right precautions and every— _Suddenly, she jerked her head up; _someone was scrying for them right now. _Hunter sensed it too and drew Morgan in closer to him. It felt like an evil presence had entered into the room. But as soon as it had come, it was gone.

"What the dickens…" Hunter said slowly. He looked at Morgan who looked back at him. "That was very weird." Morgan nodded, still shocked.

"So… uh… about the uh…" Morgan stammered. Suddenly, Morgan felt very self-conscious and nervous.

"The pregnancy?" Hunter broke out a very wide smile. "This is simply fantastic love."

Morgan took a deep breath. She didn't know why she felt so scared… Shouldn't she feel joyous and ecstatically happy? She couldn't shake that evil feeling that had entered the room.

"What on earth is worrying you Morgan?" Hunter said softly as he stroked her face. He had a concerned look in his eyes.

"There's something that I need to tell you… about the storm and the ferry," Morgan blurted out. She definitely did not want to discuss this right now; she wanted to talk about the baby, about their life ahead, but she felt that this couldn't wait. She brought Hunter over to the table and sat down. "It wasn't an accident…Killian came by and told me." As she told Hunter about everything that Killian had said to her, the look of concern in his eyes deepened.

"So I was supposed to die in that ferry accident..." Hunter looked off into the distance out of the window. His jaw tightened, "And she wants to see you suffer—to see you gone," he said softly. Morgan could tell that he was furious.

"Morgan, if she so much as touches you I don't think I will be able to control myself. God-damn it you've been through enough already! Why can't she leave you the hell alone!" and with that he slammed his fists down onto the table. "I have to alert the New Charter of this at once. She must be tracked down and brought into custody immediately. I think we should leave this situation up to them for now. We have other things we need to focus on at the moment and I don't think it's healthy for you to be stressed out all the time right now." His face softened as he looked into her eyes. "Morgan… I love you so much. I didn't even think it was possible for someone to love someone else as much as I love you. I think that we should settle down and buy a nice little place together as soon as possible. I think that we should stay together—stay safe. I will make sure the New Charter sends guards down here to protect us. I don't think it's wise for us to rush out and go after her ourselves at the moment." Hunter sighed and rubbed his chin.

"I know… it's just that… I don't want us to have to look over our shoulders for the rest of our lives," Morgan said. She looked down and said in a barely audible voice, "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Don't worry love, I will protect us. All three of us." Hunter smiled and wrapped his arm around her. He gently stroked her abdomen then pressed his lips to hers. When he let go he tilted her chin up so their eyes met. "I promise."

Morgan nodded, "So will I," she said. Hunter smiled, got up and walked to the phone to call the New Charter.

As his back was turned to her Morgan vowed to herself that she wouldn't let any harm come to him or her baby. She simply wouldn't let it. However, as she did so she couldn't help but feel that something terrible was going to happen, and there would be nothing she could do to stop it. She could only hope that the feeling she felt was only in her head. That it was only a coincidence; a simple misfiring of a few neurons; after all, she truly did feel a lot of relief after she had spoken with Hunter. Nevertheless she couldn't ignore that little voice in the back of her head… _There are no coincidences._

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Ok, sorry that I can't make chapters longer…. I lack that ability. Also, sorry if it seemed a bit rushed... I thought I should just get to the point of things. Anyway I was thinking about jumping a little farther in the future for the next chapter, so be prepared to go…say… 9 monthss into the future. Maybe more…maybe less… I dunno.


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